The World Through Odd Eyes
by dawnofthedevon
Summary: Marshall Remington was only ten years old when Ellison Mounts Sr. found her in a pile of leaves. He decided to take her in and raise her as his own child. As a child she spent most of her time with her cousins and brother but now at sixteen has she maybe developed feelings for her cousin Cap? Cap/OC


It was a cold fall day and the leaves were falling from the trees like mad. Ellison Mounts and his boy, Ellison Jr., were riding through the forest on the way to visit Anse, Levicy and their boys William and Johnse, when Ellison Jr. pointed to something in a large pile of leaves under a a particularly large tree next to the road.

"Look, daddy, the leaves is movin'!" Ellison Jr., who wasn't even eleven yet, exclaimed, patting his fathers arm.

Ellison looked over and, through his sons frantic moving about, noticed that the pile of leaves was in fact moving and as they drew closer the pile moved more. Ellison thought it was just his nephews trying to play a prank on their younger cousin. But just to be sure Ellison stopped the cart and told his son to stay put.

Hopping off the cart Ellison stride up to the pile.

"Hello?" He asked quietly.

"Hello." A small voice answered weakly.

"I'm Ellison, where are you?" He asked, leaning down and running a hand through the leaves.

A head popped up out of the leaves. Messy black curls framed the young girls pale face. Her eyes came as a surprise to Ellison. One was a dark shiny green and the other was a pale blue with flecks of silver.

"I'm Marshall." The little girl said before breaking out into a fit of coughs.

"How long have you been out in these woods, Marshall?" Ellison asked. The young girl looked cold, sick and hungry. Her face seemed gaunt, her cheeks and eyes sunken in.

"Three days." Marshall answered unsurely. "I think. I can't remember how I got here."

"Do you have a home?" Ellison asked.

"I don't know." She looked confused now, her brows were furrowed and she looked deep in thought. "I do have this though, Sir."

She dug deep into the leaves and handed a folded piece of yellowing paper to Ellison who unfolded it and began reading.

_"Hello, my name is Marshall Remington._

_I was born in London, England, but have lived in America since I was two months old. Clearly I am not the one to have written this letter because I am only ten years of age. This is my father writing. I am alone here now, seeing as my parents have decided to leave me and return to England. I have become a burden on my mother and father. They are to leave me in the West Virginia woods, far from where we lived in Washington. I may not be mentally fit when you find me or I may be starving. But I have no home. Leave me be. I no longer want to be a burden._

_Marshall Remington."_

Ellison was angry. Why would anyone leave their child in the woods with no food or drink? His face softened when he looked back down at Marshall.

"Do you want to come home with me and my son?" Ellison gestured over to Ellison Jr. who waved excitedly at the girl sitting in the pile of leaves. "We'll take good care of you. We can be a family."

She looked down again, thinking over the offer. Children were often told not to go home with strangers.

She looked back up with a large smile on her face and stood and hugged Ellison.

"Thank you sir! It gets real cold at night." She said.

"We're your family now." Ellison told her, leading her over to the cart. "This is Ellison Jr. He's gonna be your big brother."

With help from Ellison, Marshall got loaded into the back of the cart and again, they were on their way to Anse and Levicy's once again.

"Anse and Levicy are your aunt and uncle now, Marshall." Ellison said, introducing the young girl to the couple. They were indeed surprised when Marshall stuck her hand out to shake Anse's. And surprising the rest even further, Anse shook it. Then she did the same to Levicy.

Levicy took Marshall inside for something to eat so that the men could talk.

"What do you think yer doin?" Anse asked staring at his brother.

Instead of answering, Ellison just pulled the folded peice of paper from his pocket and handed it to Anse.

By the time Anse has finished reading, Ellison Jr. came running out of the woods with his older cousins, Johnse and Will, towards the house.

"Hi papa!" Ellison Jr. smiled as he and his cousins ran up.

"Who do we gotta meet that you we're so excited about showin' us, Cotton Top?" Will asked, he was a year older than Ellison Jr. He and Johnse, who was three years older, had called him Cotton Top on account of his nearly white blonde hair.

"Yeah Cotton, we've already met your pa. Unless it's ours you want us to meet!" Johnse joked, ruffling Ellison Jr.'s hair.

"Marshall's inside, boys." Anse said, gesturing the boys in the house before he and Ellison followed.

Marshall was seated at the table with a plate of buttered bread in front of her. Cotton sat next to her and Will and Johnse seemed hesitant to sit down. Cotton was pulling leaves from Marshalls hair while she laughed and grinned at him.

When the boys finally sat down on the other side of the table Anse sat with them while Ellison sat with his children.

"Marshall?" Johnse asked.

She looked up at him curiously.

"Why aren't your eyes the same colour?" He asked.

Will raised his hand and slapped his older brother on the back of his head.

"Don't ask a lady stupid questions like that."Will scolded.

"It's alright. But I don't know. I'm guessing I born like it." She shrugged her shoulders and looked down at her hands that were freshly cleaned because Aunt Levicy let her use the wash bin.

"You mean to say you don't know how you was born?" Johnse asked her, clearly bewildered.

"Do you remember how you were when you were born? Exactly what you looked like? I do, all purple and hairless and squirmin'." Levicy said, turning around from the wood burning stove and placed bowls of stew on the table. "Now shush and eat."


End file.
